Strawberry Shortcake Cake

I had the perfect Mother's Day dessert in mind this year and couldn't find a recipe with everything I wanted in a cake. I envisioned a moist vanilla layer cake filled with pastry cream and strawberry sauce, topped with clouds of whipped cream icing. I wanted it to be called "Strawberry Shortcake Cake", yeah... Nope, no such recipe that I could find.

I set out to gather recipes for all the imagined components to layer myself. Here is what I collected:

Heat
the oven to 350. Butter the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans.
Line each with a round of parchment paper, and butter the paper.

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the mixer on low speed, blend well.

With
the tip of a small knife, scrape the tiny seeds from inside the vanilla
bean into the bowl. Discard the outer pod or reserve for another use.

Add
the butter and 1 cup of the milk. Mix to blend. Raise the mixer speed
to medium and beat until the better is light and fluffy, about 2
minutes.

In a mixing bowl whisk the egg white with the vanilla
extract and the remaining 1/3 cup milk. Add this to the batter in 2 to 3
additions, scraping down the bowl well and mixing just enough to
incorporate the ingredients. Divide between the 3 pans.

Bake for
about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes
out clean. Allow to cook in the pans for 10 minutes. Then invert onto
wire racks, remove the paper and cook completely.

In a small pan, combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.

Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the gelatin dissolves.

Remove from heat; cool (do not allow it to set).

Whip the cream with the icing sugar, until slightly thick.

While slowly beating, add the gelatin to whipping cream.

Whip at high speed until stiff.

I made and cooled all of the components then simply layered - cake, strawberry sauce, pastry cream and repeat! After the final layer of cake I coated the entire cake in the strawberry sauce then covered and refrigerated overnight to let all the ingredients set up. The next morning I spread a thick layer of whipped cream icing on top and piped a border around the top. I filled the entire top with sliced berries that macerated in sugar for about an hour.

I just made a cake flavored with real strawberries, and now I am hooked. Gotta try your recipe now.

Even though it was the first time I tried making strawberry cake, it turned out great! I cut it in plain simple squares with a side of strawberries. a most zen-like way of eating cake and it was .. divine.

thanks for the recipe... the social club that I used to visit on a regular basis always had a fresh cream strawberry shortcake as a part of the dessert buffet... I have been craving it, and your recipe is the only one I could find that even came close. I just made it and it is AMAZING! Great work and thanks for sharing!